Track laying for a high-speed railway linking Beijing and Xiong'an New Area in neighboring Hebei province was completed on August 17, marking a countdown to the full operation of the line, according to local railway operator.

Scheduled for operation by the end of this year, the Beijing-Xiong'an high-speed intercity railway will shorten the travel time from the current two hours to one hour, said China Railway Beijing Group.

The railway, which threads downtown Beijing, Beijing Daxing International Airport and Xiong'an, will further improve the high-speed railway network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the company said, adding that it will play a significant role in facilitating the coordinated development of the region and supporting the construction of the New Area.

With a total length of more than 92 kilometers, the newly-built intercity railway line consists of two sections. Apart from the newly-operational one between Liying Station in Daxing district and the new airport, the section linking the airport with Xiong'an will see trains operate at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, said Deng Yinjie, project manager of the company.

In 2018, the country kicked off construction on the Beijing-Xiong'an intercity railway, with 33.53 billion yuan invested in the project, as a measure to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.